46 APPENDICES. 



the best source. The soil consists of grey and red clays, in 

 some places covered by and mixed with black vegetable mould, 

 and in others with disintegrated sandstone and granite. It lies 

 over blue and grey sandstone rocks, which come to the surface 

 here and there, and it contains a porphyritic granite, the former 

 being of a slaty character, and the latter mostly waterworn. 

 From its softness and the ease with which it is worked, the 

 sandstone is used almost exclusively for building purposes, but 

 its very porous texture renders " stucco " necessary to prevent 

 the rain from penetrating. There are slate mines and limestone 

 quarries for burning, of excellent quality, near the station. 



The upper part of Dhurmsalla is well timbered, principally 

 with the evergreen white oak (Quercus incane), the tree rhodo- 

 dendron (R. arboreum), and the long-leaved fir (P. longifolia). 

 Varieties of many common English forest and garden trees grow 

 in the neighbourhood, although not within the present limits of 

 the station. Among them may be mentioned the horse-chestnut, 

 walnut, elm, holly, plane, maple, yew, and hazel. The bar- 

 berry, the wild peach and cherry, and the crab apple are also 

 very common. The supposed anti-periodic properties of the 

 barberry are well known. The peach gives an edible fruit of 

 inferior quality, and the cherry is used to flavour brandy. The 

 crab apple undergoes a sweet decomposition, like the medlar, 

 and becomes edible. The deodar cedar is rarely found on the 

 outer southern slopes of the Himalayas, and scarcely exists near 

 Dhurmsalla. Besides the trees I have enumerated there are 

 forests of evergreen red oak (Quercus semi-carpifolia) and silver 

 fir (P. Webbiana) close to the station. 



Timber for building purposes is obtained from the white and 

 red oaks and the long-leaved fir. The first and last are abun- 

 dant, and their wood is of good serviceable quality, when cut at 

 the proper time and seasoned. For cabinet work the red oak, 

 the " kukker," the " toon," the " sissoo," and the maple are 

 procurable in the neighbourhood, and their wood is of fine 

 quality and appearance. At the lower part of the station, where 

 water is available, English vegetables can be cultivated with 

 great success. I have succeeded in growing the more delicate 

 varieties in perfection. During the rainy season, the hills (in 

 summer and winter brown and barren) become covered with a 

 luxuriant undergrowth of ferns, grasses, arums, orchises, and 

 flowers ; and every tree stem is clothed with a delicate and 

 beautiful garment of mosses, lichens, ferns, begonias, and other 



